Tag: MSSNY eNews January 13 2022

Ready to Influence and Inspire? Become a MSSNY Social Media Ambassador

Colleagues:

As we all know, the use of social media has become a daily activity for most of our society. To harness this important tool, MSSNY is launching a Social Media Ambassador program. We hope to use our ambassadors to help MSSNY deliver information to the physician community by using their own social media platforms to distribute and promote MSSNY’s content. Social Media Ambassadors’ primary responsibilities are to help spread the word about MSSNY’s work, including important public health information, the benefits of membership, lobbying efforts, respective calls to action and MSSNY news.

I hope you will consider signing up to be a MSSNY Social Media Ambassador by submitting this form.

Social Media also impacts our physician practices by enabling us to share important medical information with current and prospective patients. It provides new opportunities for building and maintaining physician-patient relationships. However, concerns associated with its use include advertising risks, breaches of patient confidentiality, inappropriate use and distraction in the workplace, and negative online posts and reviews by patients. Join MLMIC for a webinar entitled “Managing your Healthcare Team’s Social Media Presence” at 8 am on January 19^th. 

Social media is a powerful tool that—when used properly—can benefit our practices, our patients, and our MSSNY.

Joseph Sellers, MD, FAAP
MSSNY President

MSSNY Podcast- January 14: What Will Next Week’s Executive Budget Include?
Listen to MSSNY’s January 14^th podcast with Senior Vice-President & Chief Legislative Counsel Moe Auster as he looks ahead to next week’s Executive Budget. 

Join us for MSSNY’s Virtual Lobby Day on March 8^th
With Governor Hochul releasing her proposed State Budget next week, it is more important than ever that leaders in Albany listen to the concerns of physicians. To make their voices heard, physicians should plan to attend MSSNY’s Virtual Lobby Day on Tuesday, March 8^th. Register Now!

The format will follow previous year’s formats, where assembled physicians and allies will hear from legislative leaders in the morning (via Zoom), and then have virtual visits with their respective legislators in the afternoon (coordinated by their county medical societies).

As part of her State of the State message last week, Governor Hochul articulated support for a number of measures advocated by MSSNY such as support for telehealth payment parity, significant increases in loan repayment programs for physicians, and increased eligibility for subsidized health insurance coverage for patients. However, she also indicated support for measures where physicians have raised strong concerns, such as eliminating statutory collaborative agreement requirements for nurse practitioners to practice in collaboration with a physician.

There are countless other items that will be under discussion this legislative session as well, including proposals to reduce health insurer prior authorization hassles, proposals to address various public health threats, and further proposals to change scope of practice of various non-physician practitioners. We urge all physicians to join their colleagues in advocacy to their legislators to protect accessto quality care for their patients.

Governor to Release Proposed State Budget Next Week
Governor Hochul will be releasing her proposed Budget for the 2022-23 Fiscal Year next week. It is expected to incorporate many of the legislative priorities outlined in her State of the State Address and briefing book last week. The most positive items related to health care included:

• Requiring health insurers to reimburse Telehealth Services at the same levels as traditional Services. Physicians can send a letter of support here: Urge Legislators to Support Payment Parity in Telehealth (p2a.co)
• Increasing funding for the Doctors Across New York Program to provide loan forgiveness up to $120,000 for physicians who work in underserved areas for 3 years.
• Expanding the SUNY Pre-Medical Opportunity Program and the Diversity in Medicine Program which recruits and trains a diverse healthcare workforce that represents underserved communities
• Expanding from 200% FPL to 250% FPL eligibility for New York’s Essential Plan coverage for those who make too much to qualify for Medicaid.
• Eliminating premiums for CHIP coverage for children in families between 160-222% FPL
• Expanding Medicaid coverage for post-partum care for one year after birth

Some of the concerning items included:

• Eliminating remaining statutory requirements for nurse practitioners to practice in collaboration with a physician. Physicians can send a letter of opposition here: Protect Physician-Led Team-Based Care for Patients (p2a.co)
• Joining the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact to permit out of state physicians to be licensed in New York and New York physicians to be licensed in other states expeditiously

NYS PHHPC Mandates Booster Shots for All Healthcare Workers
This week, the New York State Public Health and Health Planning Council (PHHPC) passed an emergency regulation that will require health care workers to obtain a booster COVID-19 vaccine.  Governor Kathy Hochul indicated at a January 7th press conference that health care workers are expected to receive the booster within two weeks of being eligible, absent a valid medical exemption.

In a related matter, the US Supreme Court upheld the Biden administration’s order requiring vaccination for healthcare workers at facilities that receive Medicaid and Medicare funds. However, the US Supreme Court did reject an OSHA mandate that would have required vaccination or weekly testing for non-healthcare business employees.

MSSNY Facilitates COVID-19 Workgroup with State and City Health Officials
MSSNY is facilitating a monthly virtual meeting with state and city Department of Health officials for the purposes of obtaining information about COVID-19 vaccine distribution and other pandemic questions. Participants include many physicians, county medical society executives, specialty society executives, state health department officials, NYC health officials, local departments of health commissioners, and the New York State Association of County Health Officials (NYSACHO).

Topics discussed at the Zoom meeting held this week included vaccine distribution, the level of COVID-19 spread throughout the state, monoclonal antibody treatment distribution, and antiviral therapies. Additionally, there was discussion of COVID-19 home test kits and making them available to physicians’ practices. Currently, the state distributes home test kits to the local department of health, and nothing prohibits the locality from redistributing them to a physician’s office. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized both molecular and antigen OTC COVID-19 tests. A list of molecular tests can be found here.  A list of OTC antigen tests can be found here. 

40 Upstate Hospitals Now on List of Hospitals Where Non-Urgent Surgeries Limited
Earlier this week, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) announced that it had updated the list of hospitals notified to stop non-essential non-urgent elective surgeries to include 40 hospitals, mostly in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and Mohawk Valley. This is because they had met the state’s threshold for being in a “high-capacity region” and had limited bed capacity due to Covid hospitalizations. On November 26, Governor Hochul signed an Executive Order that said non-essential surgeries could be limited in some cases, and the DOH issued   related Guidance to hospitals on December 3 setting forth the criteria.

Impacted facilities include:

Mohawk Valley Region: Faxton-St Luke’s Healthcare St Luke’s Division, Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, St. Mary’s Healthcare, A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital, Cobleskill Regional Hospital, Little Falls Hospital, Nathan Littauer Hospital, Rome Memorial Hospital, Inc, St Elizabeth Medical Center, and St. Mary’s Healthcare – Amsterdam Memorial Campus

Finger Lakes Region: F.F. Thompson Hospital, Geneva General Hospital, Newark-Wayne Community Hospital, Rochester General Hospital, The Unity Hospital of Rochester, United Memorial Medical Center North Street Campus, Clifton Springs Hospital and Clinic, Highland Hospital, Medina Memorial Hospital, Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hospital of Yates County Inc, Strong Memorial Hospital, and Wyoming County Community Hospital

Central New York Region: Crouse Hospital, Oneida Health Hospital, Oswego Hospital, St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center, University Hospital SUNY Health Science Center, UPSTATE University Hospital at Community General, Auburn Community Hospital, Community Memorial Hospital Inc, and Guthrie Cortland Medical Center

Impacted Hospitals in Other Regions: Brooks-TLC Hospital System, Inc., Mount St Mary’s Hospital and Health Center, Erie County Medical Center, Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Sisters of Charity Hospital, The University of Vermont Health Network – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, Bertrand Chaffee Hospital, and Olean General Hospital

The DOH criteria used to determine “high risk regions” includes low current regional bed capacity with 90% or more beds occupied based on the previous 7-day average; or 85-90% occupancy rate based on the previous 7-day average AND a new COVID-19 hospital admission rate for the region (previous 7-day average per 100,000 population) greater than 4%.

Patient procedures that are considered essential and not subject to the restriction include: cancer care (including diagnostic procedure of suspected cancer), neurosurgery, intractable pain, highly symptomatic patients, transplants, trauma, cardiac with symptoms, limb threatening vascular procedures, dialysis vascular access, and patients that are “at a clinically high risk of harm if their procedures are not completed”.

MSSNY Continues to Press for Payment Parity for Telehealth Services
In the 2022 legislative session, MSSNY will continue its work with several organizations including the New York State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), Division II, to pass legislation (A.6256-Woerner/S.5505-Rivera) to ensure that payments to physicians for Telehealth services, including video and audio-only visits, is equal to those received for in-office appointments.

The Senate version of the bill, S.5505, is on the agenda for the next meeting of the Senate Health Committee, which is scheduled for next Wednesday, January 19^th. Physicians can send a letter in support here: Urge Legislators to Support Payment Parity in Telehealth (p2a.co). The Assembly legislation, A.6256, is in the Assembly Insurance Committee. 

Peer to Peer (P2P) Program
Stress and burnout among physicians have been well-documented for years. The COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating the public health problem of physician burnout in New York state. Throughout the pandemic, physicians and other health professionals have faced concerns about safety, overworking, and feelings of loss. Without an intervention, it is possible that a high number of physicians over the next few years may develop chronic stress reactions, anger, clinical depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidality.

Watch here, to see Frank Dowling, MD, and Charles Rothberg, MD give an interview on MSSNY’s P2P program.

If someone you know is struggling with life stressors, reach out to the P2P program to connect them to a peer supporter!

Email: P2P@mssny.org and request that you be connected with a peer supporter

Phone: 1-844-P2P-PEER (1-844-727-7337) and request that you be connected with a peer supporter

If you wish to become a trained peer supporter, please reach out to Cayla Lauder, MPH, Program Coordinator, at clauder@mssny.org.

Registration Now Open – January 19, 2022 @ 7:30am
Medical & Veterans Matters CME Webinar
Military Involvement in COVID Response & the Impact of COVID-19 on Veterans
As Omicron numbers continue to increase exponentially, National Guard troops are being deployed to help throughout the country. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on veteran populations. Learn more about military involvement in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the impact the COVID pandemic has had on the veteran population by registering for “Military Involvement in COVID Response & the Impact of COVID-19 on Veterans” on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 7:30 A.M. Frank Dowling, MD, MSSNY Secretary and a member of the Emergency Preparedness and Disaster/Terrorism Response Committee will serve as faculty for this program. Register now.

Educational objectives are:

• Identify the wide ranging medical and mental health impact of COVID on veterans
• Discuss post-traumatic growth of veterans who have experienced COVID related post-traumatic stress
• Recognize the role of physicians in assessing the impact of the pandemic in veteran patients
• Outline the role played by the Department of Defense in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

Additional information or assistance with registration may be obtained by contacting Melissa Hoffman at mhoffman@mssny.org.

The Medical Society of the State of New York is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.      

Registration Now Open – February 16, 2022 @ 7:30am
Medical Matters CME Webinar
The Impact of the COVID-19Pandemic on Racial and Ethnic Minorities
The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a spotlight on health inequities that lead to inequitable health outcomes amongst racial and ethnic minorities. Learn more about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on racial and ethnic minorities by registering for “The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Racial and Ethnic Minorities” on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, at 7:30 A.M. Yvette Calderon, MD, MS will serve as faculty for this program. Register now.

Educational objectives are:

• Outline some social determinants of health that put racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying from COVID-19
• Identify the ways in which racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
• Describe strategies to improve COVID-related health outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities

Additional information or assistance with registration may be obtained by contacting Melissa Hoffman at mhoffman@mssny.org.

The Medical Society of the State of New York is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

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